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Sex Still a Career Factor Poll

The glass ceiling is more visible to the women banging against it than it is to their male colleagues, according to a NEWS.com.au poll.



Women are still being asked at job interviews whether they intend having children while men resent not being given the same considerations as their female colleagues, according to anecdotal evidence in the CoreData poll.



The survey, carried out exclusively for NEWS.com.au, found that while an overwhelming number of women (81 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed that a glass ceiling hampering their climb up the career ladder existed, just 23 per cent men agreed.



Nearly 75 per cent of men believed there was no glass ceiling for women, according to the poll of 956 people.



While both genders believed they had been discriminated against at work, the comparison was nearly 60 per cent of women compared with 37 per cent of men.



More women than men said they had personally observed discrimination against women in the workplace, and more women than men believed discrimination existed in a range of situations.



Topping the list was problems was family arrangements and pregnancy, with 81 per cent of women believing they existed, compared with 46 per cent of men.



As it was an online poll and indicative of the opinions of those who chose to take part, it the finding cannot be said to represent the views of the whole Australian population.



Many of the anecdotes related by respondents were tied up with family and maternity issues.

Went for a job interview and was asked, 'sSo you'sre 32 years old. When are you going to have babies's This happened three times with different potential employers, said one female respondent.



Another said: A week after my wedding, I found out that my boss had asked somebody if they were interested in covering my maternity leave. I had not said anything to him about my desires to have children. He just assumed that once I was married I would be having children.



But men felt it too, with comments such as: I have filled in for maternity contracts. Things I missed out on was the morning sickness and the labour pains. I had no rights whatsoever. When they come back they only was to work two to three days a week. Where are my rights



For men, family and pregnancy obligations (27 per cent) were only just above a blokey office culture (26 per cent) in creating discrimination for women.



When it came to what helped women up the career ladder, the majority of women (85 per cent) believed that having the right connections was most important, while for men (71 per cent) having more work experience was most helpful.



Both genders, 75 per cent of women and 60 per cent of men, regarded being politically clever as helpful for women in advancing their careers.



Being good-looking and younger were seen as less important, although women (61 per cent and 48 per cent respectively) regarded these things as being more important in getting ahead than men (43 per cent and 30 per cent).



The main themes from comments offered in the poll were that the Government should be doing more to stop discrimination against women in the workplace, the protection of women'ss rights should be increased and equality enforced, women with children or who are pregnant should be given more consideration and help, and work atmospheres should be created in which women and men are valued equally. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19764523-2,00.html

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